Method for uplink communication in mobile communication environment

• US 8,583,099 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2009
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG-Ericsson Company Limited (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Original Assignee: LG-Ericsson Company Limited (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Lim, Yong Hoon, Kim, Byeong Ki, Chang, Il Doo, Shin, Hong Sup
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, JULIO R
• Application Number:
  US12/649,008
• Publication Number:
  US 20100167748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,414 Days
• Field of Search: 455/418, 455/423, 455/456.1, 455/436, 455/524, 455/67.1, 455/56.1
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access

Abstract

A method of recognizing states and locations of user equipment in a network by using a random access (RA) channel at a base station without alteration of the conventional network environment or configurations of user equipment. A mobile communication system of an embodiment includes a first base station; and one or more second base stations having service regions smaller than a service region of the first base station. The first base station is operable to broadcast configuration information to the user equipment for connecting to at least one of the one or more second base stations. The user equipment is operable to transmit an uplink signal to at least one of the one or more second base stations in accordance with the configuration information received from the first base station, and at least one of the one or more second base stations is operable to transmit information on the user equipment that transmitted the uplink signal to the first base station after receiving the uplink signal.

Claims

1. A method to be performed in a mobile communication system, the method comprising:

receiving configuration information from a first base station, the configuration information received in a user equipment;

transmitting an uplink signal from the user equipment to a plurality of second base stations to determine a location of the user equipment based on a service region of at least one of the second base stations that received the uplink signal from the user equipment, wherein the second base stations are short-range base stations and the first base station has a range greater than the short-range base stations, wherein the uplink signal includes random access (RA) information, wherein said transmitting includes transmitting at least one RA code to the second base stations at a predetermined power that is less than a power required to transmit a signal to the first base station; and

receiving, from at least one of the second base stations, information including at least one RA code;

comparing the at least one RA code received from the at least one second base station to the at least one RA code transmitted from the user equipment to the second base stations; and

transmitting a message from the user equipment to the at least one second base station based on a result of the comparison, the transmitted message including a request for a predetermined service to be performed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the RA information includes at least one RA code, a plurality of RA codes, RA channel information, or one or more RA codes and RA channel information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the second base stations comprises at least one of a femto base station or a micro base station.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second base stations are femto base stations.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the configuration information includes the one or more RA codes transmitted from the user equipment to the second base stations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration information provides an indication of one or more RA channels, and wherein the user equipment transmits the RA codes to the second base stations over the one or more RA channels indicated in the configuration information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is separated the first base station by a first range, and the user equipment is separated from the second base stations by a second range, and wherein the first range is one or more miles and the second range is less than one mile.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the RA code to access a femto base station to request a specific service.

9. A mobile communication system, comprising:

a first base station; and

one or more second base stations having service regions smaller than a service region of the first base station, wherein;

the first base station is to broadcast configuration information to user equipment for connecting to at least one of the one or more second base stations,

the configuration information including random access (RA) information to allow the one or more second base stations to receive an uplink signal from the user equipment, wherein the RA information includes one or more RA codes,

at least one of the second base stations to transmit information on the user equipment that transmitted the uplink signal to the first base station after receiving the uplink signal, wherein the information on the user equipment comprises at least one RA code transmitted by the user equipment, and

the user equipment to receive information including at least one RA code from the at least one of the second base stations;

the user equipment to compare the at least one RA code received from the at least one second base station to the at least one RA code transmitted from the user equipment to the second base stations; and

the user equipment to transmit a message to the at least one of the second base stations based on a result of the comparison, the transmitted message including a request for a predetermined service to be performed.

10. A method for a mobile communication system, comprising:

receiving one or more random access (RA) codes in a first base station;

receiving the one or more RA codes in a second base station;

transmitting a signal from at least one of the first and second base stations to a third base station, wherein the first and second base stations receive the one or more RA codes from a user equipment, wherein the first and second base stations are short-range base stations, wherein the transmitted signal includes information for determining a location of the user equipment, and wherein the information for determining a location of the user provides an indication of an intensity of a signal received by at least one of the first or second base stations from the user equipment containing the one or more RA codes;

receiving, from the at least one of the first and second base stations, information including at least one or more RA codes;

comparing the at least one or more RA codes received from the at least one of the first or second base stations to the one or more RA codes received at one of the first and second base stations; and

receiving, at the at least one of the first and second base stations, a message from the user equipment based on a result of the comparison, the received message including a request for a predetermined service to be performed.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second base stations are femto base stations, and wherein the third base station has a range greater than the first and second base stations.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second base stations are selected from the group consisting of femto base stations and micro base stations.

13. A method for a mobile communication system, comprising:

receiving one or more random access (RA) codes in a first base station;

receiving the one or more RA codes in a second base station; and

transmitting a signal from at least one of the first and second base stations to a third base station, wherein the first and second base stations receive the one or more RA codes from a user equipment, wherein the first and second base stations are short-range base stations, wherein the transmitted signal includes information for determining a location of the user equipment, the method further comprising;

comparing an intensity of a signal received by at least one of the first or second base stations from the user equipment containing the one or more RA codes to a predetermined intensity; and

transmitting the signal to the third base station based on a result of the comparison.

14. A method for a mobile communication system, comprising:

receiving one or more random access (RA) codes in a first base station;

receiving the one or more RA codes in a second base station; and

transmitting a signal from at least one of the first and second base stations to a third base station, wherein the first and second base stations receive the one or more RA codes from a user equipment, wherein the first and second base stations are short-range base stations, wherein the transmitted signal includes information for determining a location of the user equipment, the method further comprising;

comparing a power of a signal received by at least one of the first or second base stations from the user equipment containing the one or more RA codes to a predetermined power; and

transmitting the signal to the third base station based on a result of the comparison.